Section 10 hockey: Massena, St. Lawrence Central win titles

POTSDAM  Late-period goals sparked contrasting wins for the Massena Central and St. Lawrence Central hockey teams in the Section 10 championship games on Sunday at Cheel Arena.

In the Division I final, top-seeded Potsdam carried a one-goal lead into the final minute of regulation before the defending champion Raiders tied the game with 23 seconds left, and then completed a stunning 3-2 comeback win just 53 seconds into overtime when freshman Patrick Manning one-timed a short-range shot into the net.

For top-seeded SLC, the pivotal goals were delivered just 47 seconds apart by sophomore Lukas Arquiett in the final minute of the second period, and the Larries carried their momentum into the Division II championship with a convincing 6-1 win over Norwood-Norfolk.

Both sectional champions will now gear up to host New York state quarterfinal games this Saturday.

Massena plays host to Section 9 champion Monroe-Woodbury at the Massena Arena at 7 p.m., and the Larries meet Webster Thomas of Section 5 at a yet-to-be-determined time.

Massena 3, Potsdam 2 (OT)

After regulation, the Red Raiders quickly completed their comeback in OT with Manning finishing off a centering pass by Ryan Moffitt for the game-winner.

The puck was in the corner and I kind of duffed on my first pass, Manning said. I was lucky to get the puck over to Ryan on the other side then I just skated toward the net. I dont know how I got so wide open. When I saw the puck go in, I just said to myself, Did I just score the winning goal? Its just a great feeling.

Raiders goalie Connor Paquin stood tall with 29 saves in the win as the Raiders (14-6-2) earned a second straight trip to the state tournament by knocking off the NAC regular-season champion Sandstoners.

We came out very strong in the first period but we had a major letdown in the second period, Massena coach Mike Trimboli said. We let the game get away from us.

Devon Crary finished with 19 saves for the Sandstoners, who ended their season at 15-7.

After an evenly played first period that saw the Raiders produce the only goal when Dylan Stone knocked home a rebound, the Sandstoners tied the game just 43 seconds into the second on Robbie Scotts tally.

The Sandstoners continued to control the game to start the third and took advantage of a Raider penalty to take the lead at the 8:20 mark when Scott backhanded a rebound after a shot from the right wing by Josh Locey. Trevor Keleher also helped set up the go-ahead goal.

But the Raiders began to generate some late chances and shortly after having pulled Paquin, Grayson Phillips controlled the puck at the top of the left face-off circle in the Potsdam zone and blistered a shot that eluded Crary with just 23 seconds left, forcing overtime.

St. Lawrence 6, Norwood-Norfolk 1

The teams skated to a 1-1 tie through the first 29 minutes before back-to-back goals by Arquiett in the closing minute of the second period propelled the Larries.

I was pleased with the way we played defensively in the first period but I wasnt happy with our offense. We werent handling the puck very well and we were playing our game, coach Mickey Locke said after the Larries advanced to the state tournament for the first time in four years. Once we started to get the puck deep and work our forecheck, we started to get some pressure in the second period.

Arquiett put the Larries ahead 2-1 with 48 seconds left in the second.

Arquietts second goal proved to be the back-breaker as wristed home a shot from the right face-off circle with one-tenth of a second remaining.

The game was tied 1-1 and we thought thats what the score would be going into the locker room for the second intermission. Giving up those two goals late just killed us, said coach Paul Durant, whose Icemen finished at 12-9-2.

The Larries went ahead 4-1 when Nate Stickney netted a power-play goal before Ian Lynch, who had the hat trick, and Arquiett completed the scoring.

Senior Nate McLaughlin had 20 saves for the Larries, who captured the NAC Division II regular-season banner earlier this month, improving to 16-5-1 with their third win in as many tries against the Icemen.

For videos of these two games, go to the Times Overtime blog.

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